Functional biomaterial coatings for textiles and other substrates

ABSTRACT

In some aspects, the inventive subject matter contemplates providing a substrate; providing a biomaterial to be affixed to the substrate; and subjecting the substrate and biomaterial to reactive species from a plasma generated by an atmospheric plasma apparatus until the biomaterial affixes to the substrate. The biomaterial may be silk or wool polypeptide. The biomaterial is deposited as a monomeric film on the surface of the substrate before the substrate is subjected to the reactive species of the plasma. Once the substrate with the film of biomaterial is subjected to the reactive species, the reactive species facilitates the polymerization of the film as a coating on the underlying portion of substrate. The resulting coated substrates are novel constructs that have improved attributes based on the biomaterial selected for use. For example, silk proteins may be used improve the hand or strength of textile materials.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Pat. No.10,532,548, filed Apr. 15, 2016, which claims benefit of and priority toPCT Application No. PCT/US2014/060465, filed Oct. 14, 2014, which claimsbenefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No.61/893,619, filed Oct. 21, 2013 the contents of which are herebyincorporated by reference as if recited in full herein for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

The inventive subject matter relates to functional biomaterial coatingsfor textiles and other substrates. It particularly relates to theapplication of silk polypeptides, especially natural or synthetic spidersilk polypeptides to textile surfaces. The inventive subject matter mayuse plasmas generated in atmospheric pressure systems to facilitate theformation of the coatings.

Modern textiles are designed to impart selected properties to endproducts. For example, for apparel products selected properties mayinclude: waterproofness, breathability, windproofness, thermalretention, elasticity, durability, dyeability, comfort, UV resistance,etc. In the case of modern outdoor gear, there is a demand for multiplesuch properties in a given garment. However, providing one givenproperty may be at the cost of providing another. For example,waterproof garments use materials that tend to be stiff and notcomfortable against a user's skin. The most breathable garments tend notbe waterproof. Softer, more comfortable garments tend not to be the mostdurable. Achieving multiple objectives is therefore exceedinglydifficult in a single layer of textile material. Therefore, garmentsthat do so typically are made in multiple layers or with multiplecoatings of material deposited on a given textile layer. The use of suchmultiple layers creates extra and inefficient manufacturing steps andcost, extra weight and bulk, among other disadvantages.

In respect of the foregoing, there is a particular need to improve thehaptic experience users have with known or to be discovered textilematerials. In the apparel industry, the sensory experience has beenreferred to as the “hand” of fabrics. Hand may generally be defined as“the quality of a fabric assessed by the reaction obtained from thesense of touch.” Other areas having a need for efficient and simplifiedconstruction of end products with multiple properties include bedlinens, table linens, upholstery, drapery, tents, awnings, etc.

Accordingly, there is a substantial need for improved textileconstructions and manufacturing methods that address the aforementionedneeds. These and various other needs are addressed by the inventivesubject matter disclosed herein.

SUMMARY

In general, the inventive subject matter relates to methods of treatinga substrate, such as a textile to improve substrate properties. In someaspects, the inventive subject matter contemplates providing a substratehaving a generally sheet or planar form; providing a biomaterial to beaffixed to the substrate, and subjecting the substrate and biomaterialto reactive species from a plasma generated by an atmospheric plasmaapparatus until the biomaterial affixes to the substrate. The substratemay include biomaterial, such as silk polypeptide. The biomaterial isdeposited as a monomeric film on the surface of the substrate before thesubstrate is subjected to the reactive species of the plasma. Once thesubstrate with the film of biomaterial is subjected to the reactivespecies, the reactive species facilitates the polymerization of the filmas an coating on the underlying portion of substrate. The resultingcoated substrates are novel constructs that have improved attributesbased on the biomaterial selected for use. For example, silk proteinsmay be used improve the hand or strength of textile materials.

In some of its possible embodiments, the inventive subject matter isgenerally directed to the coating of textile materials with polypeptidesthat impart new properties to the textile while not necessarily negatingthe textile's existing properties or characteristics. Coatings based onpolypeptides or proteins of various natural or synthetics silks (e.g.,moth or spider silk) are specifically contemplated under the inventivesubject matter. The textiles are not limited to any particular type. Asused herein, “textile” is used in the broadest sense, namely a woven,knit, felted or other woven or non-woven thin sheet of pliable materialuseful like a fabric or cloth in finished articles such as items ofapparel, footwear, and upholstery and components thereof. The textilesmay consist of synthetic fibers, natural fibers, blends, as well asbio-based fiber materials. The textiles may be used in any number ofapplications, including for casual, business or uniform apparel, homefurnishings, furniture or transportation upholstery, hospitality items,such as table linens or napkins, carpets, felts, outdoor furniture,tarps or sunscreens, and any other fibrous items. Fabrics may beflexible, fibrous non-woven substrates, such as paper and paperbandages, disposable apparel or wipes.

In some of its possible embodiments, the inventive subject matterrelates to surface modification of woven and non-woven textiles assubstrates (which may also be referred to herein as “workpieces”) in aplasma processing operation. The class of plasma processing operationsknown as “atmospheric plasma” processing is particularly suitable forcreating such modifications. Modifications in the nature of applyingpolypeptide or protein coatings to substrate surfaces are particularlycontemplated by the inventive subject matter.

In some embodiments, plasma processing is used to deposit and cure newfunctional proteins onto the fabric surface. For example, by depositingsilk polypeptide or proteins onto a fabric, the hand of the fabric maybe altered and/or the strength of the fabric increased. Accordingly, insome embodiments, the inventive subject matter is directed to improvingthe hand of textiles with respect to predetermined hand or hapticattributes, e.g., smoothness, friction, elasticity, thermalconductivity, and any other tactile attribute.

Changing hand feel by plasma deposition includes the deposition of notonly synthetic and natural proteins, but also cellulosic materials, andbiomaterials yet to be developed.

These and other embodiments are described in the following detaileddescriptions and the figures.

The foregoing is not intended to be an exhaustive list of embodimentsand features of the inventive subject matter. Persons skilled in the artare capable of appreciating other embodiments and features from thefollowing detailed description in conjunction with the drawings.

The following is a description of various inventive lines under theinventive subject matter. The appended claims, as originally filed inthis document, or as subsequently amended, are hereby incorporated intothis Summary section as if written directly in.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following figures show embodiments according to the inventivesubject matter, unless noted as showing prior art.

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a prior art apparatus that maybe adapted for use in a method according to the inventive subject matterof treating substrates with a biomaterial under a plasma operation.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of another possible embodiment of a priorart apparatus that may be adapted for used in a method according to theinventive subject matter of treating substrate with a biomaterial undera plasma operation.

FIG. 3 is a representation of a side view of the plasma processingapparatus shown in FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Overview

Persons skilled in the art will recognize that many modifications andvariations are possible in the details, materials, and arrangements ofthe parts and actions which have been described and illustrated in orderto explain the nature of the inventive subject matter, and that suchmodifications and variations do not depart from the spirit and scope ofthe teachings and claims contained therein.

In some of its possible embodiments, the inventive subject matter isgenerally directed to the coating of substrate materials withpolypeptides that impart new properties to the textile while notnecessarily negating the textile's existing properties. Coatings basedon biomaterials are contemplated under the inventive subject matter.Coatings based on polypeptides or proteins of various natural orsynthetics silks (e.g., moth or spider silk) are specificallycontemplated under the inventive subject matter. The substratesspecifically contemplated under the inventive subject matter includetextile. The textiles are not limited to any particular type. As usedherein, “textile” is used in the broadest sense, namely a woven, knit,felted or other woven or non-woven thin sheet of pliable material usefullike a fabric or cloth in finished articles such as items of apparel,footwear, and upholstery. The textiles may consist of synthetic fibers,natural fibers, blends, as well as bio-based fiber materials.

In some of its possible embodiments, the inventive subject matterrelates to surface modification of woven and non-woven textiles assubstrates (which may also be referred to herein as “workpieces”) in aplasma processing operation. The class of plasma processing operationsknown as “atmospheric plasma” processing is particularly suitable forcreating such modifications. Modifications of textiles in the nature ofapplying polypeptide or protein coatings to textile surfaces areparticularly contemplated by the inventive subject matter.

In various embodiments, plasma processing is used to deposit and curefunctional proteins onto the fabric surface or other substrate surface.Creating a construct of biomaterial deposited on a textile substrate viaplasma treatment is a novel approach to alter the haptic feedback orhand of fabrics, according to the inventive subject matter. Changinghand feel by plasma deposition includes the deposition of biomaterialsthat have desired physical properties. The biomaterials may includesynthetic and natural proteins, cellulosic materials, as well asmaterials yet to be developed. For example, silk is known for smoothnessand comfort. By depositing silk polypeptide or proteins onto a fabric,the hand of the fabric may be altered to impart the feel of silk.Accordingly, in some embodiments, the inventive subject matter isdirected to improving the hand of textiles with respect to predeterminedhand or haptic attributes, e.g., smoothness, friction, elasticity,thermal conductivity, and any other tactile attribute.

In some embodiments, plasma processing is used to deposit a substance onone or more surfaces of a textile to impart new functionalities to theresulting construct, which functionalities are in addition to or insteadof modification of the hand of the fabric. For example, by depositingsilk polypeptide or proteins onto a fabric, the strength or elasticityof the fabric may be altered. Accordingly, in some embodiments, theinventive subject matter is directed to improving the hand of textileswith respect to predetermined attributes, e.g., strength, elasticity,thermal retention, and other physical attributes.

Current textile wet processes are energy and resource intensive. Textileprocesses such as dyeing, applying water or stain repellency, and othersurface treatments require large amounts of water and large amounts ofenergy for drying, and maintaining cure temperatures. The wet-dyeingequipment also has large footprint on the factory floor. Accordingly,there is a need for improved textile processes that use little or nowater. There is a need also a need for such processes to require lessenergy and space, and fewer chemicals and byproducts. By selectingbiomaterials of varying hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity plasma processingmay be used to impart characteristics such as water repellency anddyeability. For example, polypeptides with natural or synthetic aminoacids that are predominantly hydrophobic may impart water and/or stainrepellency.

Plasma technology has been around since at least the 1960s. Plasma isgenerally considered a gaseous phase of matter characterized by excitedspecies such ions, free electrons, and an amount of visible, UV and IRradiant energy. The plasma state can be generated by electrical energy,nuclear energy, thermal energy, mechanical energy and/or radiant energy.Plasmas may be characterized by charged particle density, temperature,pressure and the presence/absence of electrical and/or magnetic fields.Plasma is generally classified as thermal or non-thermal. In thermalplasma, temperature of several thousand degrees is reached, which isdestructive of textiles and other common materials. Non-thermal plasmasmay be referred to as “cold” plasmas because they may be maintained atlow temperatures such as between 0-100 degrees Celsius range. There aretwo types of cold plasma that can be used in textile applications: lowpressure, i.e., sub-atmospheric (approximately 1-100 pa), andatmospheric (ambient) pressure.

Atmospheric plasma is available in a number of different forms: coronatreatment, dielectric barrier discharge, hybrid combinations, andatmospheric glow discharge. One disadvantage of low-pressure plasmatreatments is that they are performed in a contained vessel, undervacuum. Therefore, they are limited to batch processing of textiles, notcontinuous processing. For the speed of processing textiles in aroll-to-roll process for large volumes, batch processing is notefficient. On the other hand, with recent advances in atmospheric plasmatreatments, the possibility now exists for continuous processing oftextiles. Because atmospheric plasma can be a roll-to-roll process andcan mimic high temperature reactions at room temperature, it promises tobe an ideal process to use for the modification of textiles.

Textiles often have limitations to high cure and process temperatures.Although many parameters influence the plasma treatment (plasma gastype, residence time, gas flow, frequency, power, pressure, ambienttemperature, liquid monomers, gases), the process is a more energyefficient and environmentally friendly. The downside of conventional,high-temperature plasma processes is that the surface modification andmolecular modification are limited by the aggressive nature of theplasma. The plasma destroys the molecular chains of the moleculeinjected into the plasma and fragments the material.

Atmospheric plasma provides sufficient energy to create a coating thatmaintains the spaces between the yarns, withstands multiple homelaunderings, maintains the integrity of the fabric, and does not affectthe air permeability of the fabric. The spaces between fibers in a wovenfabric are on the order of 100 nm, and a film thickness of 70 nm wouldhave negligible effect on the fabric breathability.

The ionized species in plasma can occur when a voltage is placed acrossthe gas. Radicals present in the plasma react with the surface of asubstrate and/or with other species in the plasma. Plasma reactions cantransform substrate surfaces in various ways. The species and energy inthe plasma may be used to etch or clean a substrate surface. The plasmamay enable may cause various forms of substrate surface activation. Forexample, the plasma conditions may cause breaking of chemical bonds;grafting of chemical moieties and functional groups, volatilizing ofsurface materials and removal (etching), dissociating of surfacecontaminants/layers (cleaning/scouring), and depositing of conformalcoatings. In all these processes a highly surface specific region of thetextile material (e.g., <1000 A) is given new, desirable propertieswithout negatively affecting the bulk properties of the constituentfibers or other constituent material. To illustrate a few textileapplications, surfaces may be roughened or smoothed. They may be mademore hydrophobic or more hydrophilic. Chemical modification of thesurface can occur by the attachment of functional groups to thesubstrate surface. Plasma polymerization of thin films is also anoption. During the plasma process, monomers or polymers can be linkedtogether or polymerize at the substrate surface and provide thin filmsof various surface and technical performance alterations. Pre-treatmentand surface modification can be accomplished using the plasmagas/substrate interaction. To apply thin films and functional groups,for instance, small amounts of the chemicals are injected via a syringe,or mist, into the plasma cloud. Certain gas plasmas are used for certaineffects: Argon—surface roughness modifications; Oxygen—surface andsurface energy modifications; Ammonia and carbon dioxide—surfacechemical reactivity modifications. Using an inert gas plasma of heliumis particularly suitable for monomers that polymerize via free radicalreactions. An inert gas is able to trigger polymerization withoutchemically altering the polymer coating created. Additions of theaforementioned reactive gases (H₂, N₂, NH₃) can alter the performanceand composition of the resulting polymer. These blends can inducecondensation reactions or cross-linking of polymer chains. For example,the addition of H₂ could result in the condensation of a monomer via theloss of an OH group by way of a condensation reaction. Additionally, toincrease the durability of the monomers, additions of N₂ and NH₃ mayinduce crosslinking of polymer chains. Proposed pathways ofplasma-induced polymerization reactions induced between monomer-fabricor monomer-monomer polymerization have been documented in literature.

In addition to the application of biomaterials contemplated herein,plasma treatment has been used for the application of fabric treatmentssuch as water repellent, flame retardant, and other finishes. The flameretardant and water repellent monomers may be mixed in a bath andapplied to the substrate or they may be vaporized and applied in aplasma chamber. The finishes are then cured simultaneously using aplasma operation, such as atmospheric glow discharge plasma.Accordingly, additives may be concurrently or sequentially applied tosubstrates by the same plasma processes used to apply the biomaterialsdisclosed herein. The additives include primary, secondary, or higherorder applications of one or more finishes of water repellents,antimicrobials, flame retardants, dye chemistry, and other fabrictreatments. Therefore, the addition of one or more secondary functionalfinishes may be included in the protein monomer feedstocks contemplatedherein or in a separately applied feedstock. For example, secondaryfinishes in a different feedstock may be added via additional passesthrough the atmospheric plasma.

The following is one possible embodiment for the introduction and curingof the protein monomers, and subsequently secondary finishes. In a firststep pre-deposition step, a substrate, for example, a fabric, issubjected to a plasma pre-treatment that activates the fabric surface.In a second step, polypeptide monomers are deposited in the activatedsurface of the fabric in vapor form (or via a padding addition). In athird step, the fabric surface with the deposited monomer is subjectedto a second plasma exposure to polymerize the monomer. This multi-stepprocess may be used to optimize the monomer feed stock solutioncomposition and plasma parameters, such as flow rate, etc., to theone-step process of passing the fabric through the plasma-monomer mixand allowing the deposition, polymerization or curing of the monomers onthe fabric in a one-step plasma treatment step. Additionally, secondaryfinishes can be added to the fabric and feedstock solution under theseprocesses.

Plasma conditions are at about room temperature and at about atmosphericpressure. The proteins and other biomaterials contemplated hereunder maybe injected into a plasma chamber as a liquid spray or vapor or atomizedparticles and are expected to hold up to the plasma process conditions.When plasma is created, through a voltage addition, it creates activespecies, which collide with the textile surface. For the textile, plasmausually reacts with the carbon or heteroatoms of the substrate and canform active free radical functional groups. When the material (e.g.,silk polypeptides) is injected into the plasma, it should bind and cureonto the active surface groups of the substrate via chemical bonding.For example, the material may be monomeric material that polymerizes onthe surface of the substrate by forming bonds between monomers and/orwith the substrate.

For fabric and like fiber-based substrates, because atmospheric plasmais at about room conditions, it is not necessary to pre-condition thefabric to humidity of the air. In some possible embodiments, the generalprocess involves moving the fabric into the plasma chamber andsubjecting the fabric to monomers at atmospheric pressure, followed byrapid polymerization, or curing, of the monomer on the fabric surface bythe plasma to achieve a uniform coating that does not affect the drapeor breathability of the fabric. The amount of monomer deposited (and/orpolymerized) may depend on the flow rate of the monomer and the stagedspeed or residence time in the chamber under plasma conditions. Changesin the time spent in the chamber under plasma conditions can increasethe thickness of the application. Furthermore, the process can berepeated numerous times to increase the thickness of the coating toimpart the desired tactile feel without affecting the drape or stiffnessof the fabric.

Generally, plasma may create short-lived activated species on thesubstrate surface. Because atmospheric plasma operations usefree-radical chemistry at room temperature, polypeptides are expected toremain stable in plasma operations. However, it is possible that theproteins themselves could become activated in the plasma in a similarfashion to what has been seen with pre-treatment of wool fabric (also aprotein). If both a protein and a fabric substrate are activated byplasma, the free radicals from each material could bind with each otherand improve adhesion. If the activation of the proteins becomeproblematic or destroy the protein material, it would be possible toalter the feed gas to specify the radical formation. Another possibilityis to deposit the proteins onto the substrate as a monomer coating anduse active species from the plasma as agents that polymerize themonomers together.

In short, the electric field of the plasma or active species generatedby the electric field of the plasma apparatus could generate specificactive groups and form active groups selectively on the proteindispersed in the plasma or on the substrate in communication with theplasma or active species of the plasma. The plasma may be used topolymerize monomers and to introduce onto the surface of substratesactive species, such as hydroxyls, amines, peroxides, etc.

While atmospheric pressure plasmas typically use helium (e.g., forpolymer deposition) as the carrier gas, others gases or blends can beused. However, helium is a small atom that can lack vibrational,electronic, and rotational energy levels sufficient to cause highionization. Other gases may be used as a carrier gas in creatingrelatively high-energy plasmas. Such gases include ambient air,nitrogen, oxygen, argon, and any combination of these gases. These othercarrier gases require relatively higher voltages, and might damage totextile substrates, so gases and process conditions will be selectedaccordingly.

Protein Depositions and Coatings In some embodiments, the inventivesubject matter is directed to methods of depositing biomaterials in thenature of monomers of polypeptides onto the surface of a textilematerial or other substrate, and polymerizing the monomers into a layeraffixed to the surface of the substrate. Polypeptides that arecharacteristic of silk or wool are among those contemplated.

Unless otherwise indicated, the terms “polypeptide” and “protein” areused interchangeably herein and mean any peptide-linked chain of aminoacids, regardless of length or post-translational modification.

The biotechnology for silk proteins is well established and includesmuch literature for creating synthetic silk from sources such as spiderDNA. Accordingly, the following is a general discussion, along with afew detailed representative examples, based primarily on spider silks.

Spider silk is thought to have chemical reactivity similar to wool. Woolhas been found to be usable, generally stable and able to form bondsunder atmospheric plasma processing operations. Both wool and silk areproteins and share amino acids, which can be made into reactive groupsunder an electrical field.

One common silk is spider silk. One form of spider silk in its raw stateconsists of two main proteins, sericin and fibroin. Fibroin is thestructural center of the silk, and sericin is the sticky materialsurrounding it. Fibroin is an insoluble protein created by not onlyspiders but also the moth larvae of Bombyx mori, other moth genera, suchas Antheraea, Cricula, Sarnia and Gonometa, as well as numerous otherinsects. The fibroin protein consists of layers of antiparallel betasheets. The high glycine (and, to a lesser extent, alanine) contentallows for tight packing of the sheets, which contributes to silk'srigid structure and tensile strength. Fibroin is known to arrange itselfin three structures, called silk I, II, and III. Silk I is the naturalform of fibroin, as emitted from the Bombyx mori silk glands. Silk IIrefers to the arrangement of fibroin molecules in spun silk, which hasgreater strength and is often used in various commercial applications.Silk III is a newly discovered structure of fibroin. Silk III is formedprincipally in solutions of fibroin at an interface (i.e., air-waterinterface, water-oil interface, etc.).

Natural spider silk is produced out of a milk of polypeptide monomers.Polymerization occurs under a dehydrogenation process. The final step inthe process is an elongation of the molecules. This elongation is understress causing the molecules to join together by hydrogen bonds and tocrystallize. During this process hydrophilic groups move to theinterior, forcing out the excess water and hydrophobic groups in theprocess.

Solutions of synthetic silk protein bind similarly. During syntheticformation, hydrophobic effects (protein-protein interactions) ofnon-polar amino acids, dispersion forces, and electrostatic attractionsfrom arginine residues contribute to the binding of fibroin molecules.Because of these molecular interactions described, and the ability touse plasma to alter the surface energy (hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity)of fibers and substrates, it is believed that the amino acid sequence indragline spider silk will react similarly and perhaps have betterreaction potential than wool fibers. Because spider silk is resistant tomost common solvents and enzymes, using a plasma processing operation toapply silk to a fabric or other substrate is novel approach to materialdeposition and coating.

Because silk fibers gain structure on the loss of water, this disclosurealso contemplates the application of silk proteins to a fabric surfacevia a water application using a controlled heat and cure step to removethe water and polymerize the silk onto the fiber surface.

In some embodiments, the silk proteins may be directly applied to afabric, such as in a pad process, and a plasma operation may be used tocure directly the proteins on the fabric.

This disclosure includes the use of all bio-derived spider silks,silkworm silks, other arthropod silks, and mussel silks. It includes theuse of a wide range of different amino acid combinations and blends orother synthetic, e.g. recombinant silk sources, as persons skilled inthe will recognize are representative of silk proteins. The sources ofprotein include, but are not limited to, natural harvested biologicalsources and transgenic hosts, such as E. coli, mammalian cells (e.g.,goat cells), and plant source, e.g. leaves, tubers, endoplasmicreticulum, etc.

The Table below shows comparative amino acid compositions of spider silkdragline and wool. These similarities, along with a myriad of research,display the consistency and feasibility for the reactivity and use ofprotein fibers (wool and silk) and plasma technology. While all types ofsilk share four types of amino acid motifs, spiders can synthesize up toseven types of silk. These types vary in elasticity, crystallinity,elasticity, with high and low strength. Therefore, as synthetic silksbecome commercially available, it is possible to tailor the silk fordifferent properties. Due to the nature of this invention, all silks andcombinations of their amino acid composition for different hand feel,elasticity, and strength are included in this disclosure. This includescompositions and blends of the following spider silks: Draglines,Visscid, Glue-like, minor, Cocoon, Wrapping, and Attachment silks.

TABLE 1 Amino Acid Composition (mole %) of Spider dragline silk andOther Protein Fibers Sourced from: Amman, Bannari, SpiderSilk-Structure, Properties, and Spinning, JTATM, Volume 5, Issue 1,Winter 2006. Amino Acid Sericin Fibroin Wool Keratin Spider Silk Glycine13.9 43.7 8.4 37.1 Alanine 5.9 28.8 5.5 21.1 Valine 2.7 2.2 5.6 1.8Leucine 1.1 0.5 7.8 3.8 Isoleucine 0.7 0.7 3.3 0.9 Serine 33.4 11.9 11.64.5 Theronine 9.7 0.9 6.9 1.7 Aspartic Acid 16.7 1.3 5.9 2.5 GlutamicAcid 4.4 1.0 11.3 9.2 Phenylanine 0.5 0.6 2.8 0.7 Tyrosine 2.6 5.1 3.5 —Lysine 3.3 0.3 2.6 0.5 Histidine 1.3 0.2 0.9 0.5 Arginine 3.1 0.5 6.47.6 Proline 0.6 0.5 6.8 4.3 Tryptophan 0.2 0.3 0.5 2.9 Cystine 0.1 0.29.8 0.3 Methionine 0.04 0.1 0.4 0.4

As an illustrative example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,057,023 discloses variousforms of spider silk polypeptides and methods and apparatus for spinningsilk. Like other silks, spider silks are proteinaceous fibers composedlargely of non-essential amino acids. Orb-web spinning spiders have asmany as seven sets of highly specialized glands and produce up to sevendifferent types of silk. Each silk protein has a different amino acidcomposition, mechanical property, and function. The physical propertiesof a silk fiber are influenced by the amino acid sequence, spinningmechanism, and environmental conditions in which it was produced.

Spider silk proteins are designated according to the gland or organ ofthe spider in which they are produced. Spider silks known to existinclude major ampullate (MaSp), minor ampullate (MiSp), flagelliform(Flag), tubuliform, aggregate, aciniform, and pyriform spider silkproteins. Spider silk proteins derived from each organ are generallydistinguishable from those derived from other synthetic organs by virtueof their physical and chemical properties. For example, major ampullatesilk, or dragline silk, is extremely tough. Minor ampullate silk, usedin web construction, has high tensile strength. An orb-web's capturespiral, in part composed of flagelliform silk, is elastic and can triplein length before breaking. Tubuliform silk is used in the outer layersof egg-sacs, whereas aciniform silk is involved in wrapping prey andpyriform silk is laid down as the attachment disk.

The biofilament proteins that may be used in the inventive subjectmatter include spider silk protein, including recombinantly producedmajor ampullate, minor ampullate, flagelliform, tubuliform, aggregate,aciniform and pyriform proteins. These proteins may be any type ofbiofilament proteins such as those produced by a variety of arachnids,including, but not limited to Nephilla clavipes, Arhaneus ssp. and A.diadematus. Also, as noted above, suitable for use in the invention areproteins produced by insects such as Bombyx mori. Dragline silk producedby the major ampullate gland of Nephilia clavipes occurs naturally as amixture of at least two proteins, designated as MaSpI and MaSpII.Similarly, dragline silk produced by A. diadematus is also composed of amixture of two proteins, designated ADF-3 and ADF-4.

Sequencing of spider silk proteins has revealed that these proteins aredominated by iterations of four simple amino acid motifs: (1)polyalanine (Ala_(n)); (2) alternating glycine and alanine (GlyAla)_(n);(3) GlyGlyXaa; and (4) GlyProGly(Xaa)_(n), where Xaa represents a smallsubset of amino acids, including Ala, Tyr, Leu and Gln, as described,for example, in Hayashi, et al., J. Mol. Biol. 275:773, 1998; Hinman, etal, Trends in Biotech. 18:374 379, 2000. Spider silk proteins may alsocontain spacers or linker regions comprising charged groups or othermotifs, which separate the iterated peptide motifs into clusters ormodules.

Modules of the GlyProGly(Xaa)_(n) motif are believed to form a β-turnspiral structure which imparts elasticity to the protein. Majorampullate and flagelliform silks both have a GlyProGlyXaaXaa motif andare the only silks which have elasticity greater than 5-10%. Majorampullate silk, which has an elasticity of about 35%, contains anaverage of about five β-turns in a row, while flagelliform silk, whichhas an elasticity of greater than 200%, has this same module repeatedabout 50 times. The polyalanine (Ala_(n)) and (GlyAla)_(n) motifs form acrystalline β-sheet structure which provides strength to the proteins.The major ampullate and minor ampullate silks are both very strong, andat least one protein in each of these silks contains a(Ala_(n))/(GlyAla)_(n) module. The GlyGlyXaa motif is associated with ahelical structure having three amino acids per turn (310 helix), and isfound in most spider silks. The GlyGlyXaa motif may provide additionalelastic properties to the silk.

The biofilament proteins that are applicable to the methods according tothe inventive subject matter include natural or recombinantly producedMaSpI and MaSpII proteins, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,989,894 and5,728,810 (hereby incorporated by reference). These patents disclosepartial cDNA clones of spider silk proteins MaSpI and MaSpII, and theamino acid sequences corresponding thereto. The MaSpI and MaSpII spidersilk or fragment or variant thereof usually has a molecular weight of atleast about 16,000 daltons, preferably 16,000 to 100,000 daltons, morepreferably 50,000 to 80,000 daltons for fragments and greater than100,000 but less than 300,000 daltons, preferably 120,000 to 300,000daltons for the full-length protein.

The inventive subject matter may also use minor ampullate spider silkproteins, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,756,677 and5,733,771, and to flagelliform silks, such as those described in U.S.Pat. No. 5,994,099, and spider silk proteins described in U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 60/315,529. These patents andapplications are hereby incorporated by reference.

The sequences of the spider silk proteins may have amino acid inserts orterminal additions, so long as the protein retains the desired physicalcharacteristics. Likewise, some of the amino acid sequences may bedeleted from the protein so long as the protein retains the desiredphysical characteristics. Amino acid substitutions may also be made inthe sequences, so long as the protein possesses or retains the desiredphysical characteristics.

The methods of the invention may also be used to recover natural orrecombinantly produced ADF-1, ADF-2, ADF-3 and ADF-4 proteins frombiological fluids. These proteins are produced naturally by the Araneusdiadematus species of spider. The ADF-1 generally comprises 68%poly(Ala)₅ or (GlyAla)₂₋₇, and 32% of another amino acid motif The ADF-2protein generally comprises 19% poly(A)₈, and 81% of other proteins

(Abbreviations for Amino Acids Used Herein are Conventional/Three-LetterOne-Letter Amino Acid Abbreviation Symbol

-   -   Alanine Ala A; Arginine Arg R; Asparagine Asn N; Aspartic Acid        Asp D; Asparagine or aspartic acid Asx B; Cysteine Cys C;        Glutamine Gln Q; Glutamic acid Glu E; Glutamine or glutamic acid        Glx Z; Glycine Gly G; Histidine His H; Leucine Leu L; Lysine Lys        K; Methionine Met M; Phenylalanine Phe F; Proline Pro P; Serine        Ser S; Threonine Thr T; Tryptophan Trp W; Tyrosine Tyr Y; Valine        Val V.)

The inventive subject matter may be used to improve naturally occurringsubstrate materials, such as cotton or wool, to exhibit novel andsignificantly improved physical, chemical and biological properties andfunctionalities. Furthermore, for textile industry it is desirable toprovide naturally occurring materials, such as cotton or wool, withimproved strength, elasticity, bending rigidity and/or resistance tomotion while retaining air permeability and wearing comfort. Under theinventive subject matter it has been surprisingly realized that silkpolypeptides may be applied using certain plasma technologies to providea highly efficient coating reaction, which enables the production ofcoated naturally occurring material having the desired propertiesmentioned above.

In the context of the inventive subject matter, a coating reaction usingsilk polypeptides also allows the effective attachment of molecules tonaturally occurring materials to produce materials tailored for specificapplications, e.g., coated textiles, clothing, and textiles for footwearhaving highly active surfaces providing UV-blocking, antimicrobial andself-cleaning properties. The coating may be doped to provide electricalconductivity to the coating or selected portions thereof. One example ofa doping agent is iodine as well as various conductive metals. Byselected doping, conductive circuits or traces may be formed in thecoating for use electronics and computing or wireless applications, suchas are emerging in the area of “smart clothing”.

In the context of the inventive subject matter, the term “silkpolypeptide” refers to a silk polypeptide or protein (it is noted that,unless otherwise indicated, these two terms, as used herein, areinterchangeable) that is expressed in natural or synthetic form. It maybe silk polypeptide derived from a recombinant (e.g. microbial, insect,plant or mammalian) expression system, i.e., separated from its naturalmilieu, (recombinant silk polypeptide or protein). Or it may be a silkpolypeptide that is harvested from natural source (e.g. spider, silkworm, mussel, or fly larvae).

A “silk polypeptide” as used in the context of the inventive subjectmatter further refers to a polypeptide with an amino acid sequence whichcomprises or consists of at least 50%, 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%,90%, preferably at least 95% and 100% of multiple copies of oneidentical repetitive unit (e.g. alanine units, glutamine units, orcysteine units units or multiple copies of two or more differentrepetitive units (e.g. alanine-glutamine units, or repeatedalanine-glutamine units followed by repeated cysteine units.

In the context of the inventive subject matter, a “repetitive unit”refers to a region which corresponds in amino acid sequence to a regionthat comprises or consists of at least one peptide motif thatrepetitively occurs within a naturally occurring silk polypeptide (e.g.MaSpI, ADF-3, ADF-4, or Flag) (i.e. identical amino acid sequence) or toan amino acid sequence substantially similar thereto (i.e., variationalamino acid sequence). In this regard, “substantially similar” means adegree of amino acid identity of at least 50%, 51%, 52%, 53%, 54%, 55%,56%, 57%, 58%, 59%, 60%, 61%, 62%, 63%, 64%, 65%, 66%, 67%, 68%, 69%,70%, 71%, 72%, 73%, 74%, 75%, 76%, 77%, 78%, 79%, 80%, 81%, 82%, 83%,84%, 85%, 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%,98%, 99% or even 99.9%, over the whole length of the respectivereference naturally occurring amino acid sequence.

A “repetitive unit” having an amino acid sequence which is “identical”to the amino acid sequence of a naturally occurring silk polypeptide,for example, can be a portion of a silk polypeptide corresponding to oneor more known peptide motifs of spider silk, e.g., MaSp I, MaSp II,ADF-3, and/or ADF-4. A “repetitive unit” having an amino acid sequencewhich is “substantially similar” to the amino acid sequence of anaturally occurring silk polypeptide, for example, can be a portion of asilk polypeptide corresponding to one or more peptide motifs of MaSpI,MaSpII, ADF-3, and/or ADF-4, but having one or more amino acidsubstitution at specific amino acid positions.

The “repetitive unit” does not include the non-repetitive hydrophilicamino acid domain generally thought to be present at the carboxylterminus of naturally occurring silk polypeptides.

A “repetitive unit” according to the inventive subject matter may referto an amino acid sequence with a length of 3 to 200 amino acids, or 5 to150 amino acids, or a length of 10 to 100 amino acids, or 15 to 80 aminoacids, or a length of 18 to 60, or 20 to 40 amino acids. For example,the repetitive unit may have a length of 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11,12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29,30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47,48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65,66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83,84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100,105, 110, 115, 120, 125, 130, 135, 140, 145, 150, 155, 160, 165, 170,175, 180, 185, 190, 195, or 200 amino acids. The repetitive unitaccording to the inventive subject matter may consist of 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 24, 27, 28, 30, 34, 35, or 39 amino acids.

The silk polypeptide used in the methods and constructs according to theinventive subject matter may consist of between 6 to 1500 amino acids,or between 200 to 1300 amino acids, or between 250 to 1200 amino acids,or between 500 to 1000 amino acids.

Suitable silk polypeptide for use in the constructs and methodsaccording to the inventive subject matter may consist of between 2 to 80repetitive units, between 3 to 80 repetitive units, or between 4 to 60repetitive units, or between 8 to 48 repetitive units, or between 10 to40 repetitive units, or between 16 to 32 repetitive units. For example,the silk polypeptide may have 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13,14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31,32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49,50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67,68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79 or 80 repetitive units.The silk polypeptide may consist of 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, 32 or 48repetitive units.

As presented above, at least two of the repetitive units in the silkpolypeptide may be identical repetitive units. Thus, the silkpolypeptide used in the constructs and methods according to theinventive subject matter may consist of multiple copies of one identicalrepetitive unit (e.g., alanine units or cysteine units) or multiplecopies of two or more different repetitive units (e.g. alanine-glutamineunits or glutamine-alanine-glutamine units. For example, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,7, 8, 9, 10, 11; 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25,26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43,44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61,62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79or 80 of the 80 repetitive units in the silk polypeptide used in theconstructs and methods according to the inventive subject matter may beidentical repetitive units.

Residues in two or more polypeptides are said to “correspond” to eachother if the residues occupy an analogous position in the polypeptidestructures. It is well known in the art that analogous positions in twoor more polypeptides can be determined by aligning the polypeptidesequences based on amino acid sequence or structural similarities. Suchalignment tools are well known to the person skilled in the art and canbe, for example, obtained on the World Wide Web, e.g., ClustalW(www.ebi.ac.uk/clustalw) or Align(http://www.ebi.ac.uk/emboss/align/index.html) using standard settings,preferably for Align EMBOSS: needle, Matrix: Blosum62, Gap Open 10.0,Gap Extend 0.5.

The inventive subject matter is not limited to silk proteins, and theprinciples taught herein apply to other proteins. For example, woolpolypeptides may be adapted for use in plasma treatments in a manneranalogous to the silk polypeptide applications disclosed herein.

Wool contains about 18 of the 22 naturally occurring amino acids. Theseacids are shown in Table 1. Chemically, wool has been estimated to haveover 100 different proteins (which are combinations of amino acids ininto polymer chains). However, the structure of the wool fiber iscomplex, much like spider silks, so that the compositions are notuniform and have different side groups and arrangements of polymerchains. Wool's protein structure and composition varies across differentanimals, different breeds, and between breeds living in differentgeographical locations, environments, and elevations. Wool producinganimals include members of the sheep and goat families. Wool itself isdivided into 5 groups: fleece, pieces, bellies, crutchings, and locks.Fleece is generally used in apparel and each is processed separately.Wool has many desirable properties including, a nice hand feel and heatretention (wet or dry). It is also self-extinguishing to flames.Therefore, it may be a desirable coating for textile substrates.

Plasma Processing

Plasma is generally considered a gaseous phase of matter characterizedby excited species such ions, free electrons, and an amount of visible,UV and IR radiant energy. The plasma state can be generated byelectrical energy, nuclear energy, thermal energy, mechanical energyand/or radiant energy. Plasmas may be characterized by charged particledensity, temperature, pressure and the presence/absence of electricaland/or magnetic fields. Plasma is generally classified as thermal ornon-thermal. In thermal plasma, temperature of several thousand degreesis reached, which is destructive of textiles and other common materials.Non-thermal plasmas may be referred to as “cold” plasmas because theymay be maintained at low temperatures such as between 0-100 degreesCelsius range. There are two types of cold plasma operations that can beused in textile applications: low pressure, i.e., sub-atmospheric(approximately 1-100 pa), and atmospheric (ambient) pressure.

Atmospheric plasma is available in a number of different forms: coronatreatment, dielectric barrier discharge, hybrid combinations, andatmospheric glow discharge. One disadvantage of low-pressure plasmatreatments is that they are performed in a contained vessel, undervacuum. Therefore, they are limited to batch processing of textiles, notcontinuous processing. For the speed of processing textiles in aroll-to-roll process for large volumes, batch processing is notefficient. On the other hand, with recent advances in atmospheric plasmatreatments, the possibility now exists for continuous processing oftextiles. Because atmospheric plasma can be a roll-to-roll process, canmimic high temperature reactions at room temperature, and requireslittle or no water, it is a novel, advantageous process to use for themodification of textiles.

The ionized species in plasma are generated when a voltage is placedacross a gas. Radicals present in the plasma react with the surface of asubstrate and/or with other species in the plasma. Plasma reactions cantransform substrate surfaces in various ways. The species and energy inthe plasma may be used to etch or clean a substrate surface. The plasmamay enable may cause various forms of substrate surface activation. Forexample, the plasma conditions may cause breaking of chemical bonds;grafting of chemical moieties and functional groups, volatilizing ofsurface materials and removal (etching), dissociating of surfacecontaminants/layers (cleaning/scouring), and depositing of conformalcoatings. In all these processes a highly surface specific region of thetextile material (e.g., <1000 A) is given new, desirable propertieswithout negatively affecting the bulk properties of the constituentfibers or other constituent material. To illustrate a few textileapplications, surfaces may be roughened or smoothed. They may be mademore hydrophobic or more hydrophilic. Chemical modification of thesurface can occur by the attachment of functional groups to thesubstrate surface. Plasma polymerization of thin films is also anoption. During the plasma process, monomers or polymers can be linkedtogether or polymerize at the substrate surface and provide thin filmsof various surface and technical performance alterations. Pre-treatmentand surface modification can be accomplished using only the plasmagas/substrate interaction. To apply thin films and functional groups,for instance, small amounts of the chemicals are injected via a syringe,or mist, into the plasma cloud. Certain gas plasmas are used for certaineffects: argon—surface roughness modifications; oxygen—surface andsurface energy modifications; ammonia and carbon dioxide—surfacechemical reactivity modifications.

US Patent Publication 20080107822 is directed to treatments of fibrousmaterials using atmospheric pressure plasma polymerization and is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes consistentwith the teachings herein. The disclosed systems and methods may beadapted for use in providing textiles coated with polypeptides andproteins, such as the silk polypeptides contemplated herein. FIGS. 2-3,consistent with the '822 patent publication and as discussed in moredetail below, show an example of a suitable system.

U.S. Pat. No. 8,361,276 discloses methods and systems for large area,atmospheric pressure plasma for downstream processing and is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes consistentwith the teachings herein. The systems and methods in that patent may beadapted for use in coating textiles with polypeptides and proteins, suchas the silk polypeptides contemplated herein. FIGS. 2-3, consistent withthat patent and as discussed in more detail below, show an example of asuitable system. It may include an arcless, atmospheric-pressure plasmagenerating apparatus capable of producing a large-area,temperature-controlled, stable discharge at power densities betweenabout 0.1 W/cm³ and about 200 W/cm³, while having an operating gastemperature of less than 50 degrees Celsius. The apparatus producesactive chemical species (which may also be referred to herein as“reactive species”). The reactive species may include gaseousmetastables and radicals. Such species may be used for polymerization(e.g., free radical-induced or through dehydrogenation-basedpolymerization), surface cleaning and modification, etching, adhesionpromotion, and sterilization, as examples. The system may include, forexample, either a cooled RF-driven electrode or a cooled groundelectrode, or two cooled electrodes, wherein active components of theplasma may be directed out of the plasma and onto an internal orexternal workpiece with or without simultaneously exposing a material tothe electrical influence or ionic components of the plasma.

In some embodiments, the inventive subject relates to a atmosphericpressure plasma generating apparatus for producing a large area,non-thermal, stable discharge at power densities between about 0.1 W/cm³and 200 W/cm³, but also capable of having a neutral gas temperature ofat most about 50° C. In what follows, the term “atmospheric pressure”means pressures between about 500 Torr and about 1000 Torr. The activechemical species or active physical species of the plasma exit theplasma discharge before impinging on a substrate disposed outside of thedischarge, thereby permitting substrate surface processing, withoutsimultaneous exposure of the substrate to the electric fields or ioniccomponents of the plasma. As stated, the plasma has a neutral gastemperature of less than about 50° C., even during prolonged andcontinuous operation, and species including gas metastables andradicals, as examples, may be generated. The high power densities, thelower operating plasma temperatures and the placement of the material tobe processed exterior to the plasma, permit accelerated processingrates, and treatment of most substrates. The plasma source may be usedfor polymerization (e.g., free radical-induced or throughdehydrogenation-based polymerization), surface cleaning andmodification, etching, adhesion promotion, and sterilization, asexamples.

In certain embodiments, the inventive subject matter is directed to thesteps of: coating the surface of the substrate textile material or othersubstrate with at least one polypeptide, such as a silk or woolpolypeptide, that is a monomeric precursor of a polymer having thechosen characteristic, and exposing the coated substrate to the activespecies generated in an atmospheric pressure inert gas plasma, wherebythe at least one monomeric precursor is polymerized, thereby forming thefinish having the chosen characteristic. The substrate may be coatedwith the monomer before it is introduced into the chamber of the plasmaapparatus or after.

Pulsed or unpulsed, high-power plasmas may be used to produce durablecoatings that may be applied using a plasma exposure of a second or less(as opposed to minutes), and that a continuously applied, effectivepower density for generating thicker, more durable coatings, may bebetween 1 and 5 W/cm² (This is between 10² and 10⁴ times the powerdensity reported for prior art plasmas.) The range of effective RFfrequencies may include any AC frequency that generates a “sheath” ordark space near the electrodes when capacitively coupled to theelectrodes. Typical frequencies may be between 40 kHz and 100 MHz.

According to some embodiments of the inventive subject matter, arelatively thick film of a silk polypeptide monomeric precursor may bedeposited onto the fabric outside of the plasma region, and the coatedfabric subsequently moved into the inert gas plasma where products suchas metastable and ionic species generated in the plasma inducepolymerization and cross-linking of the components in the depositedfilm. Because the polymerization process may propagate through arelatively thick film, the process according to the inventive subjectmatter has a penetrating effect atypical of most plasma processes; thatis, polymerization commences on the surface of the film, where it isinduced by plasma-generated active species, and propagates inward intothe condensed film, including regions where gas phase species producedin the plasma would not normally penetrate. In this manner, the impactof a metastable species or ionic species on the surface of the monomermay induce many polymerization events through a chain reaction in thecondensed film, even at locations in the film which are not directlyexposed to the plasma.

According to some embodiments of the inventive subject matter, the useof atmospheric gas plasma, such as helium plasma, as an example, avoidschemical attack or degradation of the deposited film by fragmentation.It should be mentioned that the condition of atmospheric pressurethermalizes ions produced in the plasma. Therefore, the metastable andionic species produced in the plasma are effective for inducingpolymerization and cross-linking of the components in the film, whileremaining otherwise chemically unreactive. Other possible inert carriergasses include argon, krypton, neon, and xenon may also be used as inertplasma gases.

It is well known that increasing the power applied to plasma increasesthe thickness of the sheath, or “dark space”, around an electrode. Incapacitively coupled plasma, such as that of the present claimedinvention, the sheath has a time-average electric field that repelselectrons. It therefore appears dark to the eye because it has asubstantially reduced concentration of electrons, which generate visibleemission from gas phase species by excitation through electron impact.This reduced level of electron density in the sheath inhibitsdissociation of the fluorocarbon monomer. Neutral metastables that areformed in the inert gas plasma can readily cross the voltage drop of thesheath and induce polymerization.

Electrons can only transit the sheath for a short portion of the RFcycle and do so only to the extent necessary to maintain chargeequalization. Positively charged ions transit the sheath and would, in avacuum-based plasma, impact the substrate with sufficient energy (10-100eV) to fragment the monomer, instead of simply polymerizing it.Therefore, in according to the inventive subject matter, a textile maybe kept within the sheath region by placing it against either electrodeor close thereto, where, high power applied to the plasma generatesgreater numbers of metastable species useful for initiatingpolymerization and cross-linking of the monomeric species condensed onthe fabric, while avoiding the fragmentation of the monomer by energeticimpingement of electrons or ions. In addition, plasma treatmentprocesses for woven textiles and non-wovens may be substantiallyconfined to the side of the substrate facing the plasma, if thesubstrate is held tightly against the electrode. Thus, selectedtreatments can be applied to one side or both sides of a fabric using adesired feedstock and carrier gas plasma to induce polymerization.

Additionally, atmospheric plasmas, as opposed to vacuum-based plasmaswhere a high dc bias is generated in the sheath region, effectivelyeliminates bombardment of the monomer on the substrate by energetic ionswhich would have the same destructive effect as the electronimpingement. That is, in atmospheric pressure plasma, ions undergofrequent collisions with neutral gas phase species and thus do notacquire the kinetic energies they would otherwise develop in plasmaoperated under vacuum. In atmospheric pressure plasmas, ions arethermalized to near room temperature (about.0.03 eV, as opposed tobetween 10 and 100 eV for vacuum-based plasmas), rendering such speciesincapable of providing destructive impacts. Further, the atmosphericplasma source hereof is a “symmetric” plasma; that is, the area of theparallel RF-driven and ground electrodes are equal, and there is nogrounded chamber wall contributing to the electrical behavior of theplasma. Thus, there is no DC bias, and the power density may be >10⁴times higher than the power density suggested in the vacuum-based plasmaof U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0152381. As used herein,“atmospheric pressure” plasmas are defined as operation of the plasma ata total gas pressure sufficiently high to create a plasma sheath inwhich collisions are effective for thermalizing the ions crossing thesheath. Typically, this occurs at pressures between 300 Torr and 3000Torr. It is anticipated that pressures between 600 Torr and 800 Torrwill be commonly employed.

The use of an inert carrier gas plasma, such as helium, is best suitedfor monomers that polymerize from free radical reactions. Inert gasplasma has the advantage of being capable of triggering the free radicalpolymerization process without chemically modifying the resultantpolymer. In some situations, however, it may be advantageous to add aminor amount of reactive gases, such as H₂, N₂, NH₃, or CF₄, asexamples, to the inert gas to alter the properties, performance orcomposition of the resultant polymer. The use of such gases in amountstypically less than 20% of the total gas flow, may be useful to driveother forms of polymerization, such as condensation reactions orcross-linking between polymer chains. The addition of H₂ might behelpful in promoting the polymerization of a monomer that requires theloss of an —OH group through a condensation reaction. Similarly, the useof N₂ or NH₃ might promote crosslinking of a polymer chain, leading togreater durability for the resulting monomer.

In accordance with certain possible embodiments of the inventive subjectmatter, separate process modules operating at atmospheric pressure maybe employed for: (1) condensing a film of biomaterial on a substrate;and (2) exposing the condensate to an atmospheric pressure plasma.Alternatively, the condensation of the biomaterial and thepolymerization process may be accomplished in the same module, notseparate modules. Typically this would mean keeping a constant outwardflow of helium or other inert carrier gas so as to keep the monomervapor away from the plasma region. The two-module process has benefitsfor providing durability of the biomaterial film on the substrate, andfor avoiding unwanted film deposition on the electrodes of the plasmasystem. Since film deposits do not form on the electrodes, the textiletreatment system may be operated continuously and with less maintenancethan where the gas-phase deposition species is formed in the plasma.

Examples of textile materials include, but are not limited to, textilesmade of fibers of animal or plant origin, such as wool, silk, collagen,cotton and other cellulosics, synthetic fibers such as poyolefin fibers,polyesters, polyamides (i.e., nylons), fibers from liquid crystallinepolymers (e.g., aramids), polyoxymethylene, polyacrylics (i.e.,polyacrylonitrile), poly(phenylene sulfide), poly(vinyl alcohol),poly(ether ether ketone) (i.e., PEEK),poly[2,2′-(m-phenylene)-5,5′-bibenzimidazole] (i.e., PBI), poly(blycolicacid), poly(glycolic acid-co-L-lactic acid, and poly(L-lactide),aromatic polyhydrazides, aromatic polyazomethines, aromatic polyimides,poly(butene-1), polycarbonate, polystyrene, and polytetrafluoroethylene,as wells as combinations of the foregoing. Such combinations may allowfor enhancement of certain desired fiber properties. Typically, thetextile materials or other substrates would be provided and processed assheets or other planar forms of material. However, persons skilled inthe art will appreciate that other substrates may include yarns,threads, fibers and other such filamentous materials; membranes andfilms, for example, those used as full, partial, or selective barrierlayers that control environmental conditions, e.g., waterproofneess,water resistance, breathability, and/or windproofness. An example of awaterproof, breathable membrane material is expanded PTFE, which may besold under the brand name GoreTex.

In addition to substrates having a planar or sheet form, or afilamentous form, the substrate could have a volumetric 3D form. Forexample, the form could be material on a shoe last representing some orall the volume of the shoe last. The substrate could be a backpack orother article for containing items. The substrate in planar,filamentous, or 3D form could be a foam object used in construction offootwear, apparel, backpacks and other carriers, furniture orupholstery, etc. Foamed materials include EVA and PU. The substratecould likewise be any natural or synthetic rubbers or leathers.

The composite of coated materials and substrates contemplated herein maybe referred to herein as “constructs”. Coatings may be affixed to theunderlying substrate in a construct by any known chemical bond orbonding force, including covalent bonding, hydrogen bonding, van derWaals forces, and ionic bonding. The coatings may be applied in uniformthickness or varying thickness. In the case of the polymeric coatings,the monomeric units form a monolithic structure over the underlyingportion of the substrate. In other cases, the monomeric biomaterial doesnot necessarily bond monomer-to-monomer but bonds monomer to substratereactive site to form a permanent coating on the underlying portion ofthe substrate. (In other words, the monomers are not formally monomersbut reactants combining with the substrate.) In the case of variablethickness coating, the coating thickness may be considered the averagethickness on the surface. For many applications, the coating has athickness of between 1 nm and 1 mm or 10 nm and 100 μm, or between 40 nmand 50 μm, or between 0.5 μm and 10 μm, or between 1.0 μm and 5 μm.These ranges are representative, and the inventive subject matterencompasses a wide range of thicknesses, not intended to be limited tothe examples specifically given.

Coatings are typically coextensive with a desired surface area. In otherwords, they generally correspond to the entire surface area selected.However, this is not to say that the entire area is covered with a solidcoating. The coating may be in the nature of, for example, a web, porousmembrane, network of regularly spaced perforations, or other non-solidpatterns that are generally coextensive with the defined surface area.The coating may have varying topology, with some areas being thickerthan others. The coating may also include two-dimensional orthree-dimensional features. For example, microelectronic devices,sensors, circuits or traces can be integrated into a coating to providefunctional features.

For apparel applications, the coated surface area would generally be atleast 6 square inches. For batch-processed rolls of materials forapparel applications, the coated surface area of the rolled materialwould typically be at least between about 50-72 inches in width andbetween about 1-100 meters in length. The roll length depends on thefabric material and construction. For example fleece would be bulky andship in rolls of short lengths, while a 10-20 Denier downproof fabriccould ship in higher length rolls. For apparel applications, suchmaterials could be used for, in whole or part, an outer, intermediate,and/or inner layer of an apparel item.

Turning now to FIG. 1, a schematic representation of a perspective viewof one embodiment of apparatus 10 for inert gas, atmospheric plasmapolymerization treatment of substrates, is shown. Vessel 12, which maybe heated or unheated, contains a feedstock 13, e.g., a monomericmixture of silk polypeptide chemicals plus any desired additives. Themonomeric mixture is drawn out of vessel 12 through a heated or unheatedtube 16, in which valve 18 is inserted in the direction shown by arrow20 into a heated or unheated metering pump 22. Temperatures of thevarious components are maintained to reagents in a liquid state. Aregulated and constant flow of monomers and other chemical exitsmetering pump 22 through heated or unheated line 24, and is directedinto an vaporizer unit 26, which converts the feedstock into a vapor,namely a gaseous, aerosol, or atomized stream of a liquid or solidfeedstock. (The vaporizing unit and related steps are not necessary ifthe feedstock 13 held in vessel 12 is already in gas or other vaporform.) Inert gas stream 28 may be introduced into vaporizer 26 from gassource 30, to direct the flow of vapor out of vaporizer 26 and intoapplicator 32, which includes a slit facing fabric 34, such that gasstream 36, containing the volatilized monomers and additives is directedonto fabric, 34. Fabric or nonwoven substrate 34 is moved in thedirection of arrow 38, such that the fabric is not heated by hot gasstream 36, and the volatile chemicals constantly condense onto a freshsection of fabric. The monomeric chemicals may be applied to fabric 34inside chamber 40, which helps to keep the vapor away from plasma region42, in order to avoid generation of unwanted chemical radicals andunwanted film deposits on electrodes 44 and 46. After condensation ofthe monomeric materials on the surface of fabric 34 facing theapplicator 32, the fabric passes into second, atmospheric-pressureenclosure 48. Enclosures or chambers 40 and 48 include exhausts 50 and52, respectively. The terms “enclosure and chamber” are usedinterchangeably. The do not necessarily mean a completely enclosedbounded space, as in a hermetic chamber. An enclosure or chamber mayhave open sides or openings in walls.

In enclosure 48, fabric 34 passes between electrodes 44 and 46, whichare part of the atmospheric pressure plasma source, where inert gasplasma 42 is generated. This plasma, which may be continuouslymaintained, is operated at power levels between 0.25 and 4 W/cm². Formany applications power levels between 1 and 2 W/cm² are employed. Inertgas stream 54 from source 30, which may also supply inert gas tovaporizer 26 is the plasma gas. This condensation or deposition ofmonomeric species followed by plasma-induced polymerization may berepeated a chosen number of times for generating multiple coats ofpolymer, each formed on the previous coating, for greater durability. Asstated above, one or more of the plasma discharges 42 may also employ aninert gas mixture including minor additions of reactive molecules, suchas H₂, N₂, CF₄, or NH₃, as examples, to promote cross-linking or otherforms of polymerization reactions.

Region 56 denotes the section in which no monomer is present (polymermay be present when multiple applicators and plasmas are employed, inwhich case region 56 would have polymer from an earlier treatmentprocess); region 58 identifies the section in which monomeric chemicalsare applied; region 60 denotes the plasma polymerization region whichcures or polymerizes or cross-links the chemicals applied by thevaporizer/applicator; and region 62 identifies the region in which thefabric has been treated at least once. Not shown in FIG. 1 are: (1) theradio-frequency plasma power supply and matching network connected tothe electrodes 44 and 46, and used to power and tune plasma 42; (2)water-cooling used to cool the electrodes 44 and 46 such that the gastemperature of the plasma may be maintained at or below 70° C.; (3) thecompressed gas regulators for source 30; (4) the driver and rollers usedto move fabric 34 across the applicator region, into the plasma region,and out of the plasma region; and (5) the pumps in exhausts 50 and 52for collecting and recycling the inert gas, all of which are well knownto persons of ordinary skill in the art. Fabric 34 may be held againstone electrode 46 to restrict the treatment process to one side thereof.Either electrode may be used for this purpose.

Although the applicator chamber or enclosure 40 and plasma chamber orenclosure 48 are shown as separate chambers or enclosures, the featuresand function of each may be provided under a common enclosure. Forexample, the applicator 32 and plasma source, i.e., electrodes 44, 46for generating plasma region 42 could be in a single enclosure. (See,e.g., FIGS. 2-3, discussed below.) The applicator could be operatedsimultaneously with the operation of the plasma-generating electrodes orthe applicator and electrodes could be operated sequentially. Theapplicator could be a separate apparatus in the system that operatesindependently of the feed inlet for the carrier gas. Or, it could beintegrated with the feed inlet for the carrier gas such that thebiomaterial and carrier gas are in a single common stream that isintroduced into the common enclosure and subjected to the electricalfield for generating plasma.

In addition to the single set of applicators and plasma sources, aseries of applicators/plasma sources could be used to provide multiplelayers of coating on a single substrate. Similarly, in a single set ofan applicator/plasma source, multiple layers of coating or substratecould be applied by reversing the movement of a substrate coated after afirst operation of the applicator and plasma source back to theapplicator and then to the plasma source for a second operation of theapplicator and plasma source.

Typical dimensions for the electrodes for an exemplary laboratory plasmaapparatus are between 1 cm and 13 cm wide, by 30 cm long, with a gap ofbetween 1 and 2.5 mm. Typical voltages may be between 120 and 450 V(peak-to-peak) at frequencies including 13.56 MHz, 27.1 MHz and 40.68MHz.

In summary, the inventive subject matter includes the plasma-basedpolymerization of coatings, such as silk proteins, that are thinner orthicker than 50 nm on a surface of a textile substrate or othersubstrate. The inventive subject matter is suitable for a continuousoperation in which the monomeric mixture is first applied to thesubstrate, and then the substrate that is coated with condensed monomers(neat or applied with other chemicals) is moved into an atmosphericpressure plasma, whereby an inert gas plasma is used to polymerize andcross-link the film, without destroying the monomer. By operating theplasma at sufficiently high power (>0.25 W/cm², typically between 1 and2 W/cm²), it is possible to polymerize the monomeric film at a web speedof, for example, 10-100 m/min and using a electrode dimension (in thedirection of web travel) of, for example, 10-200 cm. Operation atatmospheric pressure means that pre-conditioning of the fabric to apre-set moisture level is not necessary. It is also not necessary topulse the plasma, thereby enabling greater throughput of the apparatus,because the duty cycle of the treatment process is 100%.

Another example of a plasma apparatus, which may be used in methodsaccording to the inventive subject matter, is shown in FIGS. 2-3. Inprinciple, the apparatus allows for a fast flow of active chemical orphysical species generated in the plasma region between electrodes toexit the plasma region and impact workpiece (substrate) before theactive species are deactivated by collisions or loss of energy, therebygenerating chemical and/or physical changes to the workpiece withoutexposure of the workpiece to the electrical field or charged componentsthat are present inside the plasma. This effect is achieved by creatinga “plasma protrusion” from the hollow cathode effect formed betweenparallel openings in the ground or RF electrode and using theseprotrusions to assist in carrying active species further downstream fromtheir point of generation. In the present situation, the hollow cathodeeffect is produced between the grounded, liquid-cooled tubular or ovalelectrodes that efficiently cool the electrode and through which theactive species flow following generation inside the plasma. An advantageof using circular or oval tubes to form the ground electrode, as opposedto using a plurality of water-cooled rectangular or square electrodeshaving similar aspect ratios, is that the oval or round electrodeconfiguration avoids sharp edges that would perturb and undesirablyenhance the discharge in the vicinity of the edge, due to thelocally-enhanced electrical field that would result from therelationship, E=V/r, where r is the radius of curvature of the edge, Vis the applied, instantaneous voltage on the electrode, and E is theelectric field. An enhanced electric field is likely to induce arcing.As stated above, this downstream processing approach also inhibitsexposure of the workpiece to charged species formed inside the plasmabecause of rapid recombination of such species once they leave theplasma.

FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of a perspective view of oneembodiment of plasma processing apparatus 110, is shown, illustrating RFelectrode 112, having liquid cooling ducts 114 a-114 d, powered by RFpower supply and RF matching network 116, connected to electrode 112using a copper or other metal ribbon (not shown in FIG. 2), andsupported by insulating members 118 a-118 c, which may be fabricatedfrom fiberglass, G10/FR4 (McMaster-Carr), a phenolic resin PTFE, glassor ceramic, as examples, whereby first chosen spacing 120, between RFelectrode 112 and planar ground electrode 122, constructed usingparallel, grounded, hollow circular or oval tubes, 124 a-124 d, ismaintained. Electrical energy is supplied in a frequency range betweenabout 1 MHz and about 100 MHz, the RF matching network being used toadjust for a load deviation from 50 Ohms in the apparatus. Chiller 126supplies liquid coolant to cooling ducts 114 a-114 d and to hollow tubes124 a-124 d adapted for liquid cooling. Either rectangular or circulartubing may be used in place of cooling ducts 114 a-114 d. Material to beprocessed 128 is disposed outside of the plasma in the proximity ofground electrode 122 and maintained spaced-apart therefrom at secondchosen spacing 130. Material 128 may be moved during processing using anappropriate moving apparatus 132. Gas inlet tubes 134 a-134 c, suppliedby gas supply and manifold 136, provide the appropriate gas mixture togas distribution tubes 138 a-138 c, nominally ⅜ in. O.D., there being atleast one gas inlet tube 134 a for each gas distribution tube 138 a, asan example, to maintain approximately constant gas pressure across gasdistribution tubes 138 a-138 c. Gas distribution tubes 138 a-138 c maybe made from plastic, Teflon or metal, as examples. Clearly, additionalinlet tubes 134 would be provided to accommodate wider RF electrodes112. Gas distribution tubes 138 a-138 c have holes (not shown in FIG. 1)spaced apart along the length thereof and facing grounded electrode 122,such that gas emerges through tapered channels 140 a-140 c, opening outof bottom surface 141 of RF electrode 112. Tapered channels 140 a-140 chold gas distribution tubes 138 a-138 c firmly in place, and recessedfrom surface 141. Radiofrequency electrode 112 is shown to be dividedinto two opposing portions 112 a and 112 b, such that the channels 114a-114 d and 140 a-140 c may be readily machined and gas distributiontubes 138 a-138 c may be installed, and for cleaning and maintenance asneeded during operation of discharge apparatus 110. The three gasdistribution tubes 138 a-138 c, shown in FIG. 2, may be separated at 2.5in. intervals center-to-center, and recessed from face 141 by 0.125 in.In another embodiment of the inventive subject matter, O-rings can beused to confine the cooling liquid to cooling ducts 114 a-114 c inopposing portions 112 a and 112 b if tubing is not employed. To preventloss of process gas through the sides of apparatus 110, gas flow isblocked by sealing the space between the first and last of groundedtubes 124 a-124 d and insulating members 118 b and 118 c, such that thedirection of gas flow is always through the opening between groundedtubes 124 a-124 d (not shown in FIG. 2).

FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of a side view of plasma processingapparatus 110 hereof, illustrating gas supply tube 134 b, water coolingchannels 114 b and 114 c for RF electrode 112, recessed gas distributiontube 138 b, tubular ground electrode 122, and material 128 disposeddownstream of the plasma which is formed in first spacing 120. Shownalso are radial holes 142, which permit gas to flow out of gasdistribution tube 138 b, into tapered channel 140 b, and out of surface141 of RF electrode 112 b. Holes 142 may be 0.03 in. in diameter. Thegap between adjacent grounded electrode tubes 124 a-124 d may be betweenabout 0.03 in. and 0.12 in. It is believed that between two plasmadischarge apparatuses: one having an electrode gap of about 0.12 in. andanother having an electrode gap of about 0.093 in., the latterapparatus, having more grounded tubes for the same size of electrode 22,will give better results for the same flow conditions. The differencemay be the result of a higher “downstream” gas flow velocity achievedwith the smaller gap, and better gas cooling because of the increasedarea of the tubes.

As stated above, effective cooling of the RF electrode may be achievedby sandwiching square copper or aluminum tubing 114 a-114 d between topand bottom sections 112 a and 112 b of RF electrode 112 which may alsobe made from aluminum, and flowing thermostatically-controlled, chilledwater from chiller 126 which cools RF electrode 112 by conduction.Because neither RF electrode 112 nor grounded electrode 122 are coveredwith a dielectric material, thermal conduction between the electrodesand the gas is greatly enhanced, enabling effective and efficient gascooling. Grounded electrode 122 includes a series of parallel,equally-spaced tubes 124 a-124 c through which cooling water is alsoflowed utilizing chiller 126. Cooling ducts or tubes 114 a-114 d of RFelectrode 112 and tubes 124 a-124 d could well be cooled by otherfluids, such as a glycol-based coolant, or a chilled gas, as examples.Because of the high surface area provided by tubes 124 a-124 d ofgrounded electrode 122, gas cooling is enhanced relative to awater-cooled planar electrode. For tubes having ¼ in. outside diameter(O.D.), and a gap of about 0.09 in. open area between the tubes, theincrease in surface area over a planar electrode is a factor of about2.2. Thus, the downstream gas flow onto the substrate or workpiece maybe effectively cooled. When oval-shaped ground electrode tubes 124 a-124d are used, the short dimension of the tube is perpendicular to RFelectrode 112 and the long dimension thereof is parallel to RF electrode112.

Flowing gas is employed to generate the plasma and to carry activecomponents produced in the plasma discharge between the RF and groundelectrodes in spacing 120, out of the plasma through the spaces betweenthe tubes 144 a-144 d (FIG. 2), of grounded electrode 122, and ontoworkpiece (substrate) 128. One gas mixture effective for this purposeincludes between about 85% and about 100% helium flowing from gas supply136 (FIGS. 2 and 3) into gas inlet tubes 134 a-134 c and into gasdistribution tubes 138 a-138 c, also shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 hereof.Other gases or vaporized substances may be added to the helium flow toenhance the formation of active species inside the plasma volume.Distribution tubes 138 a-138 c are fitted with small openings 142 topermit the gas to exit the distribution tubes from the side of theelectrode facing the plasma. By placing these distribution tubes withingap or channel 140 a-140 c respectively, machined into electrode 112,the distribution tubes are kept out of the active region of the plasma,as are the gas outlet openings. The channels do not permit plasmaformation in immediate vicinity thereof, because the inter-electrode gapbetween the RF and ground electrode is too large for a discharge tooccur. The gas distribution tubes are disposed away from the dischargein order to prevent arcing events that occur due to an enhanced hollowcathode effect which may occur in small openings, in a similar manner tothose in micro-hollow discharges. Three rows of gas distribution tubeshave been found to be sufficient to achieve uniform processing for an RFelectrode 112 that is 2 m×0.3 m, the longer dimension being parallel todistribution tubes 138 a-138 d, as shown in FIG. 3, and with the axis ofthe gas distribution tubes being perpendicular to the movement ofmaterial 128.

As stated above, gas flow from the plasma is prevented from exiting theplasma region except through the narrow space between the tubes. Eventhough significant electrical power (between about 10 W/cm³ andoccasionally greater than about 100 W/cm³) is deposited into the plasma,which adds thermal energy to the process gas, efficient gas coolingeffected by the water cooling system and the absence of thermalinsulators (such as electrical dielectric covers) on the tubes and theRF electrode keep the gas temperature low. This may be significant whenthe present plasma discharge apparatus is used for surfacepolymerization of thin-film monomers since brief exposure to a hot gaswill cause condensed monomer on the workpiece to rapidly vaporize andescape from the system.

Material 128 may be moved perpendicular to the parallel alignment of thegrounded electrode tubes, which provides a uniform, surface treatmentbecause all areas of the surface are exposed to the gas flow. The gapbetween the material and the bottom of the tubes can also be controlledand varied. This gap is typically between about 0.5 mm and about 10 mm.A large gap enables the apparatus to polymerize monomer applied to thicksubstrates, such as deep-piled carpet, but also has the disadvantagethat some of the active chemical species flowing out the plasma willrecombine, or deactivate by other time-dependent means (such as byradiation or collisions), leading to slower processing. A small gapbetween the material and the tubes has the advantage of minimaldeactivation of active species, but also is more prone to contaminatingthe plasma volume between the RF and ground electrodes by mixing of anyvolatile vapors from the material with the process gases. The ability totreat materials that may emit vapors from other processing steps is asignificant advantage since treatment of such materials using any of thein-situ processing methods would result in contamination of the processgas by the emitted volatile vapor, or would require such high gas flowas to be prohibitive in cost. Close spacing of the tubes also allows theplasma gas to exit towards the material at a higher velocity, becausethe gas flow is directed through a smaller space, which increases thelinear velocity of the gas, but without a concomitant increase in gasconsumption, and thereby operating cost.

If the workpiece or material were to be held static in the apparatus,the result would be stripes of treatment, each stripe corresponding to agap between the grounded electrode tubes 124 a-124 d. By moving theworkpiece across the apparatus in a uniform manner and in a directionnormal to the ground electrodes, uniform surface processing has beenachieved. This provides for continuous treatment of a material, eitherin an in-line process or a stand-alone batch process. Workpiece ormaterial 128 may include flexible materials such as textiles, carpet,plastics, paper, metal films, and non-wovens, as examples, or rigidmaterials, such as glass, silicon wafers, metal and metal sheeting,wood, composite materials, cardboard, surgical instruments or skin, asexamples. The workpiece may be a laminar material.

The material may be moved using a conveyor belt, moving stage, orthrough other means of locomotion. Because the workpiece is outside ofthe plasma and the electrical fields therein, movement thereof is notcomplicated. The distance between the workpiece and the exit of theplasma-generated species between grounded electrode tubes 124 a-124 d isadjusted such that the deactivation or decay of the active species hasnot destroyed the chemical reactivity of the gas stream in thedownstream region. Placement and movement of the workpiece between about0 mm and about 10 mm from the surface of grounded electrode tubes 124a-124 d, may satisfy this condition, depending on the process chemistry.

In summary, in one possible embodiment, stable, non-arcing operation ofthe plasma requires three conditions to be satisfied: (a) a flow of aprocess gas consisting of between about 85% and about 100% helium, forexample; (b) RF excitation of one electrode in the frequency range ofbetween about 1 MHz and about 100 MHz with bare metal electrodes exposedto the plasma; and (c) a gap between the RF-driven electrode and theground electrode that is between approximately 0.5 mm and approximately3 mm. It is believed that a spacing of about 1.6 mm when an RF frequencyof about 13.56 MHz will obtain satisfactory results (and at slightlysmaller distances for higher frequencies). Additionally, low-temperatureoperation (that is, between about 0° C. and about 100° C., or between10° C.-35° C.) requires efficient cooling of both electrodes using atemperature-controlled fluid, such as chilled air, ethylene glycol ordistilled water, as examples. The use of conductive fluids, such asbrine, is undesirable because of the corrosive effect of the brine aswell as the electrical leakage of radiofrequency power that may result.

In some embodiments, the coating of a thickness of an applied silkpolypeptide on a textile substrate is between 1 nm and 1 mm, or 10 nmand 100 μm, or between 40 nm and 50 μm, or between 0.5 μm and 10 μm, orbetween 1.0 μm and 5 μm. These ranges are representative and theinventive subject matter encompasses a wide range of thicknesses and isnot intended to be limited to the examples specifically given. 1 nm-20nm should suffice for alterations of surface characteristics. However,thicknesses exceeding 20 nm may be needed to ensure the ability induce atactile change in the surface of the fabric.

In some embodiments, consistent with the teachings in U.S. Pat. No.8,016,894 for side-specific plasma treatment, one side of the coatedtextile may be exposed to the plasma, while the other side of thetextile is maintained in close proximity to a surface impervious to theplasma species. In this manner, the plasma may selectively modify (e.g.,coat) one side of the textile. The side of the fabric facing theimpermeable surface is protected from modification by the chemicalspecies generated in the plasma. It should be mentioned that whether thefabric is pressed against the impermeable surface with some force orsimply adjacent to the surface, or in the vicinity thereof, will dependon how much of the protected surface can be removed or modified withoutrendering insignificant the difference in properties between thatsurface and the surface deliberately being processed or removed. Toprocess large quantities of fabric, the textile may be moved through theplasma at chosen speeds such that the textile spends an effective amountof time in the plasma. In some situations the plasma treatment mayprovide functional ligands having additional desirable properties to thesurface of the fabric on the side facing the plasma; the coating on theprotected side is retained essentially as coated, and may have differentfunctionality than the plasma-processed side. The present apparatus andmethod may therefore be used to achieve a desired dual-functionalityfabric.

Feedstock

The dope or feedstock solution used in the methods according to theinventive subject matter may be a solution that includes any silkprotein contemplated herein. As used herein, the term “solution” is abroad term that includes not only solutions proper but also suspensionsand colloids. The solvent used for the dope solution may be any aqueoussolution in which the spider silk protein is soluble or dispersible.Hereinafter, a “solvent” is any liquid that may be used for creatingdissolved or dispersed particles. Similarly, references to “dissolving”and like terms, means the act of dissolving or dispersing for purposesof forming a solution proper, suspension or colloid.

The solvent may be an aqueous buffer solution with a pH from about 4 toabout 12. In some cases a solution has a pH of about 11 (e.g., pH10.6-11.3). Adjusting the pH of the dope solution to about pH 11 mayreduce the formation of aggregates and result in coating layers ofhigher quality, that are more resistant to breakage. In one embodiment,the pH of the dope is adjusted by adding glycine.

Depending on the hydrophobicity of the silk polypeptide, the dopesolution may or may not contain solubilizing agents such ashexafluoroisopropanol and other organic solvents, or guanidinehydrochloride, urea or other denaturants or chaotropic agents. Aqueousbuffers that promote a liquid crystalline structure of the spider silkprotein may be desired in some applications. Suitable buffer solutionsfor use in the dope solutions may include 50 mM glycine. Other usefulbuffers include, but are not limited to, PBS (phosphate bufferedsaline), Tris (Tris hydroxymethylaminoethane), pyrrolidine, piperidine,dialkylamines (e.g., diethylamine), homocysteine, cysteine,6-aminohexanoic acid, CABS (N-cyclohexyl-4-aminobutane-1-sulfonic acid),4-aminobutyric acid, proline, threonine, CAPS(N-cyclohexyl-3-aminopropane-1-sulfonic acid), β-alanine(3-aminopropanoic acid), lysine, ascorbate, trialkylamines (e.g.,triethylamine), cysteic acid, and carbonate.

In other embodiments, the dope solution includes silk polypeptidedissolved in one or more non-aqueous solvents.

Normally, the dope solution is about 2-60% or more (w/v) in silkprotein. The dope solution may be about 15-25% (w/v) silk protein, orabout 20% (w/v). The concentration of the dope solution should be highenough to maintain the silk protein in a form suitable for coating oftextiles or other work substrates, but low enough to avoid gelling andprecipitation of the protein in the solution. Concentrations in excessof 15% (w/v) silk protein may be necessary to achieve the form suitablefor coatings; however, at concentrations above 40%, formation ofinsoluble aggregates and/or disoriented spider silk fibers may occur.

The dope solution may also contain various additives to improve thestability and physical properties (e.g., viscosity) of the dopesolution. These additives may be used to increase the stability of thedope or increase the crystallinity of the silk protein in solution. Suchadditives may allow for the coating of textiles and other substratesfrom dope solutions that are as high as about 45%, 50%, 60% or more(w/v) silk protein. Dope solution additives may also become incorporatedinto the silk protein coating on the textile other substrate to adddesired properties. Typical additives of this type may include, forexample, plasticizers. Another possible additive is polyethylene oxide,having a molecular weight in the range of 4,000,000-9,000,000 orgreater, which can perform as a viscosity enhancer, promote stabilityand processability of the dope solution, and serve as an inhibitor ofdope gelation. As an example of possibly suitable application, apolyethylene oxide, having a molecular weight of 4,000,000 to 6,000,000,may be added to the dope solution in concentrations of 0.03 to 2%. Inanother example, polyethylene oxide having a molecular weight rangingfrom 4,000,000 to 9,000,000, or greater than 10,000,000, if dissolvablein the aqueous solution, is added at concentrations wherein which thepolyethylene oxide retains the ability to dissolve into the dopesolution. The higher the molecular weights of the polymer, the lower theconcentration that can be used. Typically, the ratio of silk protein topolymer in the dope solution should be no greater than 100:1.

Additives may include compounds present in the aqueous dopes that arenaturally secreted by spiders such as, for example, GAB amide(.gamma.-aminobutyramide), N-acetyltaurine, choline, betaine, isethionicacid, cysteic acid, lysine, serine, potassium nitrate, potassiumdihydrogenphosphate, glycine, and highly saturated fatty acids. Vollrathet al., Nature 345: 526 528, 1990; Vollrath, Reviews in MolecularBiotechnology, 74:67 83, 2000. These naturally occurring additives helpmaintain the aqueous coating of the capture web and keep the silkproteins in favorable conformations. Thus, the web is stabilized under avariety of conditions and dehydration is prevented. Specifically,betaine and GAB amide are osmoprotectives and osmolytes used by a widerange of organisms. Taurine is a protein-stabilizing compound.

Other additives which may be used in the dope solution include, but arenot limited to, succinamide, morpholine, CHES (N-cyclohexylaminoethanesulfonic acid), ACES (N-(2-acetamido)-2-aminoethane sulfonic acid),2,2,2-trifluoroethanol, saturated fatty acids such as hexanoic acid andstearic acid, glycerol, ethylene glycol, poly(ethylene glycol), lacticacid, citric acid and 2-mercaptoethylamine.

Other useful additives may be included in the coagulation bath.Additives including certain surfactants, osmoprotective agents,stabilizing agents, UV inhibitors, and antimicrobial agents areeffective when added to the dope solution, or to the coagulation bath,or both. Stabilizers that protect against UV radiation, radicalformation, and biodegradation include, for example,2-hydroxybenzophenones, 2-hydroxyphenyl-2-(2H)-benzotriazoles,cifmamates, and mixtures thereof. These chemicals are capable ofabsorbing and dissipating UV energy, thereby inhibiting UV degradation.Free radicals are neutralized by hindered amine light stabilizers(HALS), butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), and butylated hydroxytoluene(BHT). Antimicrobials that may be added to the spin dope include silvernitrate, iodized radicals (e.g., Triosyn; Hydro Biotech), benzylalkoniumchloride, alkylpyridinium bromide (cetrimide), andalkyltrimethylammonium bromide. Viscosity enhancers may be added toimprove the rheological properties of the dope. Examples include, butare not limited to polyacrylates, alginate, cellulosics, guar, starchesand derivatives of these polymers, including hydrophobically modifiedderivatives. In a preferred embodiment, polyethylene oxide is added. Inone such embodiment, polyethylene oxide, preferably having a molecularweight of 4,000,000 to 6,000,000 is added to the dope solution inconcentrations of 0.03 to 2%. In another such embodiment, polyethyleneoxide having a molecular weight ranging from 6,000,000 to 9,000,000, orgreater than 10,000,000 is added at concentrations wherein which thepolyethylene oxide retains the ability to dissolve into the dopesolution. Preferably, the ratio of silk protein to polymer in the dopesolution is no greater than 100:1.

The dope is normally prepared from a biological fluid derived from atransgenic organism, such as is disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No.10/341,097, entitled Recovery of Biofilament Proteins from BiologicalFluids, filed Jan. 13, 2003, which is hereby incorporated by referencein its entirety. Recombinant spider silk protein used for production ofdope can be recovered, for example, from cultures of transgenicmammalian cells, plants, or animals and the dope prepared from culturemedia, plant extracts, or the blood, urine, or milk of transgenicmammals. Removing contaminating biomolecules (e.g., proteins, lipids,carbohydrates) from the dope, via such methods as tangential flowfiltration, centrifugation and filtering, and chromatographictechniques, generally improves the properties of the spun fiber.

According to the methods of the invention, the dope solution may beproduced and/or used for coating at a temperature in the range of 0° C.to 100° C. for many applications. However, the chip melting of certainmaterials into dope solutions may require a range of approximately2°-380° C. The melting temperature of polypeptide materials depends onthe amino acid sequences. However, to keep temperatures at the lowerside of the range, a dispersion of monomers may be used instead of achip melt.

Analogous wool polypeptide feedstocks, as well as other polypeptidefeedstocks, may be created following the same general teachings as thoseabove for silk polypeptides.

From the foregoing teachings, persons skilled in the art will appreciatethat various desirable properties or characteristics may be imparted totextile materials and other substrates. Such properties orcharacteristics include, as used herein, include, improved: haptic orhand (e.g., fabric softening), strength, durability, elasticity, waterand oil stain repellency, insect-repellency, anti-static properties,fade resistance in sunlight and lighting conditions, and anti-microbialproperties to reduce odor, infection, and formation of mold or mildew.

The principles described above in connection with any particular examplecan be combined with the principles described in connection with any oneor more of the other examples. Accordingly, this detailed descriptionshall not be construed in a limiting sense, and following a review ofthis disclosure, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate thewide variety of lending systems and other systems that can be devisedusing the various concepts described herein. Moreover, those of ordinaryskill in the art will appreciate that the exemplary embodimentsdisclosed herein can be adapted to various configurations withoutdeparting from the disclosed principles. The previous description of thedisclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in theart to make or use the disclosed innovations. Various modifications tothose embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art,and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to otherembodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of thisdisclosure. Thus, the claimed inventions are not intended to be limitedto the embodiments shown herein, but are to be accorded the full scopeconsistent with the language of the claims, wherein reference to anelement in the singular, such as by use of the article “a” or “an” isnot intended to mean “one and only one” unless specifically so stated,but rather “one or more”. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intendedto be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure isexplicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is to be construed as“a means plus function” claim under US patent law, unless the element isexpressly recited using the phrase “means for” or “step for”.

Persons skilled in the art will recognize that many modifications andvariations are possible in the details, materials, and arrangements ofthe parts and actions which have been described and illustrated in orderto explain the nature of the inventive subject matter, and that suchmodifications and variations do not depart from the spirit and scope ofthe teachings and claims contained therein.

All patent and non-patent literature that may be cited herein is herebyincorporated by references in its entirety for all purposes.

1. A method of treating a substrate, comprising providing a substrate;providing a biomaterial to be affixed to the substrate; and subjectingthe substrate and biomaterial to reactive species from a plasmagenerated by an atmospheric plasma apparatus until the biomaterialaffixes to the substrate.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein thesubstrate includes biomaterial that is deposited as a monomeric film onthe surface of the substrate before the substrate is subjected toreactive species of the plasma, and wherein once the substrate with themonomeric film of biomaterial is subjected to the reactive species, thereactive species facilitates the polymerization of the film as a coatingon the underlying portion of substrate.
 3. The method of claim 1,comprising depositing the biomaterial as a film on the substrate afterthe substrate is placed in a chamber of the plasma apparatus, whereinthe pressure in the chamber is between 500 Torr and 1000 Torr, andwherein the biomaterial is affixed to the substrate by a covalent bond.4. The method of claim 1, wherein the biomaterial is fed into theplasma-generating electrical field of plasma apparatus and thebiomaterial and/or surface sites on the substrate are transformed intoreactive species such that the biomaterial and substrate bond together.5. The method of claim 1, comprising producing, by the plasma apparatus,a discharge at power densities between 0.25 W/cm³ and 4 W/cm³ having anoperating gas temperature of less than 70 degrees Celsius, and placingthe substrate within the plasma-generating electrical field of theplasma apparatus.
 6. The method of claim 1, comprising placing thesubstrate outside the plasma generating electrical field of the plasmaapparatus but in communication with reactive species generated in theplasma, the reactive species facilitating the bonding of the substrateto biomaterial and/or of the biomaterial to itself so as to affix thebiomaterial into a coextensive coating on the surface of the underlyingportion of substrate.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the biomaterialcomprises a mixture of polypeptides of the same or different types. 8.The method of claim 1, wherein the polypeptide comprises a silkpolypeptide, for example a spider silk polypeptide or a woolpolypeptide.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the substrate comprises atextile material and wherein the biomaterial is affixed to the substrateby a covalent bond.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the textilematerial is selected from the group of petroleum-based synthetic fiberstextiles consisting of, but not limited to, polyester, nylon, syntheticpolyurethane (in the form of synthetic leather) cellulose, and othermaterials used in footwear, equipment, and apparel.
 11. The method ofclaim 9, wherein the textile material has a generally sheet or planarform.
 12. The method of claim 9, wherein providing the biomaterial to beaffixed to the substrate comprises depositing the biomaterial in varyingthicknesses over the substrate in a discontinuous layer and furthercomprising subjecting the substrate and biomaterial to reactive speciesfrom the plasma until the biomaterial affixes to the substrate as apolymerized layer having a varying topology in the nature of a web,regularly spaced perforations or other non-solid patterns.
 13. Themethod of claim 12, further comprising integrating microelectronicdevices, sensors, or circuits into the polymerized layer.
 14. Theconstruct of claim 13, further comprising integrating selected dopingdefining an electrically conductive path into the polymerized layer. 15.A method of treating a substrate, comprising providing a substratecomprising a textile material; providing a monomer mixture comprisingsilk polypeptides to be affixed to the substrate; subjecting thesubstrate and monomer mixture to conditions sufficient to affix themonomer mixture to the substrate as a polymeric coating of the silkpolypeptides; and continuing the conditions until the polymeric coatingis formed.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the conditions areprovided by a plasma apparatus configured for atmospheric plasmageneration and plasma generated in the apparatus facilitates thepolymerization.
 17. The method of claim 15, further comprising operatinga continuous feed assembly coupled to the plasma apparatus to provideinput of the substrate into the reaction zone of the plasma apparatus.18. The method of claim 15, wherein the polymeric coating has a meanthickness of at least 1 nm-1 mm.
 19. The method of claim 15, wherein themonomer mixture changes the haptic or hand attributes of the underlyingsubstrate.
 20. A method comprising: providing a substrate materialcomprising silk polypeptides comprising sericin and fibroin, or woolpolypeptides comprising sericin and fibroin, as a textile materialhaving a generally sheet or planar form; depositing a natural orsynthetic biomaterial comprising silk polypeptides comprising sericinand fibroin, or wool polypeptides comprising sericin and fibroin,discontinuously over the substrate in varying thicknesses; andsubjecting the substrate and the natural or synthetic biomaterial toreactive species from a plasma generated by an atmospheric plasmaapparatus until the biomaterial affixes to the substrate as apolymerized layer having a varying topology in the nature of a web,regularly spaced perforations or other non-solid patterns.